Key Points When practicing innovative therapy for skin cancer treatment, consider which reputable similarly situated skin cancer specialists would support that particular treatment as expert witnesses. When a complication occurs during skin cancer treatment, maintaining the patient's trust is the…
Key Points Approximately 30% of all patients diagnosed with melanoma report levels of psychological distress indicative of the need for clinical intervention. Psychological distress has been associated with: patient delay in seeking medical advice; decreased adherence to treatment regimens; increased…
Key Points Photographic documentation is an important adjunct to the care of patients at risk for melanoma. The evolution of pigmented lesions can be monitored using standardized procedures of whole body integumentary imaging. Individual lesions can be documented using macro-photographic…
Key Points Vitamin D is important in bone metabolism. Studies have suggested that vitamin D may lower the risk of developing certain cancers and provide benefit in several diseases, although a causal relationship has yet to be established through clinical…
Key Points Indoor tanning is a US$5 billion a year industry, utilized daily by 1 million Americans. It is increasing in popularity. Indoor tanning utilizes bulbs that contain UVB amounts similar to the sun and UVA content several multiples higher.…
Key Points Solid organ transplant recipients have an increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinomas. Immunocompromised patients can develop aggressive skin cancers with an increased risk for recurrence and metastasis. HIV/AIDS patients have an increased risk of human papillomavirus-associated neoplasms,…
Key Points Surgical resection should be considered for all patients with limited numbers of metastatic sites. Standard cytotoxic chemotherapy has limited efficacy in metastatic melanoma, with response rates in the 10–20% range and short-lived response durations. High-dose IL-2 is associated…
Key Points Imaging is heavily utilized in the diagnosis and management of melanoma patients but the utility of imaging depends upon the goal in the context of the clinical disease setting. For staging purposes, little evidence supports comprehensive body imaging…
Key Points A number of targets in melanoma cells and the melanoma tumor microenvironment exist. Early targeted clinical studies against the oncogenic form of B-Raf (V600E) using PLX-4032 have shown promising results. Rational drug combinations will prevent inevitable drug resistance…
Key Points Vaccine therapy is promising but still an investigational treatment for melanoma. Vaccines can be derived from peptides, allogeneic tumor cell lines, or autologous tumor cells and have demonstrable activity in preclinical studies and phase I/II clinical trials. Most…